TAGS — Icepaw listens with a smile as her sister speaks, though her gaze remains locked on her work; she makes a point to acknowledge what's being said with deliberate nods and twitches of her large ears instead.
"That's great," she mews after a moment.
"Yeah, Curlewnose seems really nice." He's pretty different from Nightmareface in terms of temperament, from what she's seen. A lot nicer, more lax. Sometimes she wonders what it'd be like to train under him instead, but as stern as her own mentor can be, Icepaw appreciates it — it keeps her on track, too afraid to slack off or half-ass anything. And she knows the older molly's only like that because she cares; the tunnels are incredibly dangerous, after all, and they can't afford to make any mistakes or not take things seriously.
"Mine's going good — lots of scent-navigation for me. Agility training, too."
They nod thoughtfully in response to Rainpaw's musing — if only! She's been entertaining the idea of asking her sister if she'd be interested in making a little makeshift nest underground together, in some old den close to camp; now feels like an appropriate time.
"Yeah, th—" A sudden contact with her leg, albeit a light one, suddenly cuts her off as the little molly jumps a bit from surprise. Quickly she whips her head around, eyes wide... and her cheeks warm sheepishly at the sight of Firepaw, the annoying little fly she can't seem to swat away. StarClan, she can't catch a break! But this is much better than outright bullying or threats; she's admittedly been worried ever since she accidentally pushed the other apprentice's buttons a little too hard in front of Lynxtooth. To be honest, she hadn't pegged Firepaw as someone to just get over things like that, especially when it'd
really seemed like she was about to lunge at Icepaw over her remark.
Nor had she pegged her as someone particularly interested in helping her — or Rainpaw, for that matter, considering how frequently the pair tend to butt heads. But Firepaw's quick to start digging alongside the sisters, and for a moment Icepaw just looks at her quietly, ignoring the insulting nickname given to her. Even if she is still being a nuisance, she guesses Lynxtooth's discipline — and Icepaw's comment about pulling her weight, made in front of the imposing warrior — really did get to her.
Serves her right.
Icepaw's never felt any interest in hanging out with Firepaw, something that's reaffirmed as the dark-furred molly immediately lashes out at Rainpaw (which she reacts to with a pointed glance in her sister's direction, an attempt at an exasperated exchange of eye contact), but she's not about to refuse extra help. And maybe choring in the middle of camp will keep her tame.
I hope that's not the only thing stopping her from being actually rude to me. She still worries a little bit about what might happen if they're ever alone together — the things Firepaw might say. But, for all of her bluster, Icepaw knows she's a loyal WindClanner; there's no way she'd actually do anything to her. Especially not when there's so many warriors Icepaw could run to!
Admittedly, she can see where Firepaw's coming from regarding her comment about the night sky. Sometimes Icepaw thinks about the distance between herself and StarClan when she's in the tunnels; can they see her when she's down there? It's hard not to worry, but she reminds herself that they're all-seeing, all-knowing — certainly they still guide her paws. But then why did Smokepaw's accident happen? Though maybe it was inevitable, and they're to thank for the fact that it could've been
so much worse than it was.
Firepaw was involved with that, she muses. Icepaw doesn't know the full story, what actually happened, but she does know that Firepaw was switched to a moor-runner regimen right afterward; she can connect the dots, especially with the rumors that had swirled around camp after the incident.
The sound of her own name falling from Firepaw's lips finally pulls her out of her thoughts, and after a moment she fully processes what was said to her. It's impossible to keep the surprise off her face at the realization, though she does her best not to be
too obvious about it. Snailpaw's sudden introjection pulls her attention away before she can reply, her eyes widening once again at his questioning.
"Snailpaw!" Her embarrassment at being spooked was nothing compared to what she feels now, and she quickly looks away with a lashing tail, momentarily pausing in her work as she gets caught up in the moment. How oblivious is he to the way Firepaw acts around her? Icepaw's confident that this is just another way for the other apprentice to flex her superiority complex over the tunnelers, or maybe an apology for being so hostile in the past. Maybe Lynxtooth told Badgermoon about it, who told her to be nicer.
Bunnywhisker's approach gives her more time to not answer Firepaw; it's not that she doesn't
want to, but she does feel kind of weird about it. Ironic that she'd just been thinking about how little she wants to hang out with the other. But it's not like she can say no! Especially when she's probably feeling really embarrassed, too — more so than Icepaw as the asker, probably. Their warrior friend's jesting earns a chuckle from the small feline, tinged with the mounting awkwardness that stunts her.
Firepaw's invitation is another sign of the world ending, she thinks — but would never dream of saying it aloud. Not in front of her, at least. She bookmarks the comment so she can tell the others later, in private, and feel funny without risking the fragile-feeling peace between them.
"Yeah, what's come over you, Snailpaw?" she asks softly, smiling, before redirecting her gaze to Firepaw.
"But anyway, yeah — that'd be nice." She lapses into silence for a few moments.
"Thank you." With any luck, this really is just a show of superiority and Firepaw won't even follow up on it; sometimes Icepaw feels awful at skillfully holding conversations with her friends, much less someone she has
this kind of relationship with! What if it's super awkward or uncomfortable, or it turns nasty again?